Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC decreased its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 11.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,175 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 4,641 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Global Payments were worth $3,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GPN. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $349,000. Oribel Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 495.1% during the 4th quarter. Oribel Capital Management LP now owns 521,300 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $58,417,000 after acquiring an additional 433,700 shares during the period. Focused Investors LLC purchased a new position in Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $99,969,000. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 88.6% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 892,958 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $100,065,000 after acquiring an additional 419,443 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Payments by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,533 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $180,925,000 after acquiring an additional 72,992 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GPN. Evercore ISI began coverage on Global Payments in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Williams Trading set a $75.00 target price on Global Payments in a report on Friday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Global Payments from $105.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Global Payments in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $79.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $110.91.

Global Payments Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of GPN opened at $78.37 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.93 and a 52 week high of $120.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $19.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $76.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.24.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. Global Payments had a return on equity of 12.33% and a net margin of 15.48%. Global Payments's revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Global Payments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Issuer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services.

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